At
the end of March, when jazz vocalist and alumni volunteer Lolita Jackson
EAS89 serenaded Dr. Judith Rodin CW66 at a gala at Manhattans Gotham
Hall to celebrate her tenure as Penn president, the song chosen for
this tribute was Youre the Top. Earlier, in introducing Rodin,
Penn trustee Leonard Lauder W54 had proclaimed her Penns greatest
presidentto which the crowd of about 1,000 New York alumni responded
with a roar of approval.

In
Philadelphia in mid-April, Rodin was honored with a surprise Alumni
Award of Merit, which credits her with bringing about spectacular
transformations at Penn. (See page 63 for the full text.) It was
presented by trustee Alvin Shoemaker W60 Hon95, who, while chairman
of the board of trustees, headed the search committee that recommended
Rodin 10 years ago. He recalled knowing from his first meeting with
Yales then-provost that she would be Penns next chief executive,
and called her presidency one of, if not the most important
in the distinguished history of the University, and the most successful
weve ever hadto a similarly enthusiastic response from the crowd
packed into the Annenberg Center lobby.

These are just two examples of what Rodin gratefully calls the tremendous
reservoir of good will she has experienced since she announced that
she would step down from Penns presidency as of June 30, 2004. Given
the demands on anyone running a major university, some measure of
appreciation would surely be appropriate, but the intensity and enthusiasm
of Rodins well-wishers at those events and in Washington (on April
20, after the Gazette went to press), as well as in dozens
of other venues large and small in recent months, speak to a broad
awareness that the past 10 years have been extraordinarily good and
important ones for Pennand that Rodins leadership has been essential
to the Universitys advances during this period.

Many of those advances can be quantified, in buildings built and renovated,
major programs and research institutes launched, top-quality faculty
and staff hired and retained, selectivity in admissions increased,
neighborhood fences mended and new relationships forgednot to mention
money raised to pay for it all. But as important, Rodinthe first
woman president in the Ivy Leaguebrought a new spirit and energy
to College Hall and the task of raising Penn to the next level. Among
her numerous other activities, she has been a tireless cheerleader
for Penn, with a savvy sense of how to get the word out about the
University.

Her administration has not been free of criticismmuch of it revolving
around a leadership style that some felt was too corporateand has
also confronted several significant challenges along the way. One
was a sharp rise in crime in the Fall of 1996, of which more below.
Another was the death of research subject Jesse Gelsinger in a gene-therapy
trial, which prompted FDA sanctions against Penns Institute for Human
Gene Therapy and its director, Dr. James Wilson, and a reexamination
of protocols for informed-consent in research trials. And the accidental
death of alumnus Michael Tobin C94 at a fraternity party led to changes
in the Universitys campus policies on alcohol. Lawsuits against the
University were filed by the families in both of those cases, and
were ultimately settled out of court.

On the business side, a 1997 decision to outsource facilities-management
functions, touted as a model for the future, was later reversed in
large part. Perhaps the gravest threat, in terms of its potential
impact on the institution, was a financial crisis at the Universitys
Health System, which a few years ago had amassed more than $300 million
in deficits, leading to the ouster of Dr. William Kelley, then CEO
of the Health System and dean of the medical school. Those losses
have been reversed, and the system is currently profitable. After
considering setting up a separate not-for-profit entity, the University
created Penn Medicine, a new, unified governing board for the Health
System and medical school that reports to Penns board of trustees
[Gazetteer, January/February 2002]. Moodys Investors Service recently
upgraded Penns long-term rating, commenting favorably on the Universitys
integrated strategic and financial planning.

And as Rodin prepares to depart College Hall, Penn is engaged in a
simmering dispute with some of its graduate students over their right
to unionize.

However, virtually all observers concede the effectiveness of her
administration in responding to these challenges and its determination
to reach the ambitious goals set out for the University almost from
the day she took office. As early as her inauguration, as the president
herself notes in the interview that follows and in her farewell From
College Hall column, the critical elements of her vision for Penn
were present. Following extensive discussions among the Universitys
schools, centers, and other constituencies, these priorities were
elaborated and codified in The Agenda for Excellence, the Universitys
strategic plan for 1995-2000. And, unlike many similar plans, they
were largely carried out.

Not that Penn can ever rest on its laurels. In her interview with
the Gazette, the president emphasized that universities must
continually reinvent themselves or go stale, warning: Thats whats
happened to many of our peers, and thats why we were able to surpass
many of them. Below, we take a look at the Rodin-era reinvention
and some of the ways it has changed Penn.